Page:The Grand junction railway companion to Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham; (IA grandjunctionrai00free).pdf/132

 the olden time; whether this exists in the imaginations of travellers, which is generally rather vivid, or whether a resemblance really exists, one thing is certain, that Jerusalem was not divided by a large navigable river, or it would not so long have withstood the assaults of the Romans. Bridgenorth is divided into the upper and lower town; the higher town is built on a bill, which rises upwards of a hundred feet from the level of the Severn, and commands extensive and delightful prospects; many of the houses are founded on the rock, and have their cellars excavated therein; from this portion of the town to the bridge, there is a curious walk, hewn out of the rock, the descent by which is however rendered easy and safe by steps formed of pebbles, and secured by a frame-work of iron. Bridgenorth is said to owe its origin to Ethelfleda, the heroic daughter of Alfred the Great. It was fortified in the time of Henry I., and became forfeited by its opposition to the Crown. In the time of the second Henry, it is memorable for an heroic act of self-devotion on the part of Sir Robert Sinclair, who intercepted an arrow aimed at the King, by interposing his own body. During the wars of the King and the Parliament (1646), it suffered severely; for, being taken by the forces of the latter, the Royalists, with that recklessness, wantonness, and cruelty which they so often exhibited, and so lamentably for the cause of the King —— set fire to the town, by which it was for the most part destroyed. The town had formerly a castle,